Travel infrastructure has been one of the more popular themes of the news in Northern Ireland throughout this summer.
From the publication of the final report of the All-Island Strategic Rail Review, to Grand Central Station and further flight routes for City of Derry Airport, it has been a summer of encouraging news as far as getting people into and around Belfast and Northern Ireland.
The news might be encouraging, but that encouragement only lasts if these projects are the start of sustained and long-term investment in the travel infrastructure of the region.
Getting people into and around the region, not just Belfast, is the name of the game and supplying as many options throughout the 24 hours of the day, especially during the weekends and evenings, as is feasible has to be towards the top of the list of Executive priorities.
We know that connectivity is an issue in Northern Ireland.
While the last City Growth and Regeneration Committee report found there was an increased footfall in Belfast City Centre, it worryingly found a decrease in visitors from outside the city itself.
Similarly, Derry City and Strabane District Council were said to be investigating way to attract people into the city centre at night, with one councillor describing Derry as a “ghost town”.
Improved connectivity can go a long way towards solving these problems.
This isn’t just the improved provision of public transport by Translink – although that is obviously a large part of the ask – but also the deliverance of an effective Air Route Development Scheme, the connection of air and sea ports with towns and transport hubs, and changes in policy to increase taxi provision throughout Northern Ireland.
For those of us in hospitality, the benefits of these changes are obvious: more connectivity equals greater footfall in our towns and city centres, boosting the evening, late night, and weekend economy.
£58 of every £100 spent in hospitality is returned to the local economy, not to mention the continued development of our tourism offer, both of which create regional employment meaning that getting connectivity right is important for the economy at large.
There is a need to act fast as these issues will only worsen if not acted upon in a cross-departmental, coordinated manner and the economic opportunity of improved connectivity will be lost.
This is why the Northern Ireland Connectivity Coalition has been convened by stakeholders across transport and industry, to present the case to Stormont of what proper connectivity looks like.
It’s an approach that has to be gotten right, because this is a chance we can’t afford to miss.
Colin Neill is chief executive of Hospitality Ulster
